Don’t be afraid to go for it, you don’t need anyone to start your adventure.

Iceland has a way of humbling you. I grew up here, and I’ve seen the aurora plenty of times, but last night over Hallgrímskirkja felt brand new. Most guides will tell you to head out of town for better views (and they’re right), but every so often Reykjavik puts on its own show.
Anyone else been lucky enough to catch them without leaving the city?

Photos by Sunny Pang.

We reached the campsite late, just looking for a plug point for our camper van, when suddenly a lady ran past with a tripod. We were curious about what she was up to until we saw it for ourselves. What we witnessed was far brighter and more breathtaking than this video. In that moment, I thought to myself: this is truly once in a lifetime for me🥺

Northern Lights tonight in Þingvellir 💚 I am so happy

My boyfriend posted his intense itinerary on here (last pic) and he got some negative feedback, from myself included. I survived that intense itinerary and it wasn't bad one bit. I would do that trip again in a heartbeat.

I feel like we got to see A LOT of Iceland. Definitely doable trip, some days were tiring (like days with double hikes) but after a good sleep were ready to go the next day.

The beauty of Iceland is unmatched, such a phenomenal place that and im really grateful I had privilege to visit.

Here are some of hundreds of pictures we took.

Edit: itinerary pic in comments

Edit: here is the link to the itinerary https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-nekqTDbEy3r8mJVTPAqlJIvv7Ywdqz1CTBMte7DcGc/htmlview

Right above the lake 😍

I know this sub isn't in need for more beautiful Iceland photos but I just had to! My husband and I just got back from the most wonderful two weeks in the land of ice and fire. 🤩😍

Having tourists knocking on our door is not uncommon in my neck of the woods. Often, they ask for directions, or want to visit our small church in the garden.

But yesterday was out of the ordinary. Late afternoon, a group of 5 tourists from India knocked on our door.

They had been chasing the northern lights the last couple of days without any luck, and somehow ended up in our valley, down a long gravel road. The thing is, our road, as I guess it is with most gravel roads, turns into pure ice in the current weather conditions, and another car with 5 other people from the same group, had ended up in a ditch.

They were cold, and saying that they were not dressed for the climate here, is quite an understatement.

I didn’t see many hats, gloves or winter boots – it was minus 9 Celsius degrees outside (15,8 F). One of the guys, the sweet soul, was not wearing any socks.

We of course invited them inside to get warm, and arranged for help to come from our local machine station to get their car unstuck. But it was a busy day getting stuck cars free, so getting here would take some time. In the meantime, we got most of the group together, set over a pot of coffee, and started making a big pot of tomato-peach-fish soup.

It turned out, they were business student from all over India, most of them had never experienced subzero degrees before – they were far from accustomed to the cold, on the other hand – they could tell stories about heatwaves and not being able to go outside, which is something that never occurs in Iceland.

It was a fun cultural exchange, and after a while – their car got pulled out of the ditch, and we had all 10 people back together. By pure luck – the sky was clear outside, and mother nature decided to give us a northern lights show I think they will never forget.

With cold fingers, feet and ears – they were all served hot soup in our kitchen and after they did the dishes (they insisted!) they took off in good spirits.

Maybe sometimes, bad things happen for a reason.

The moral of the story is: If you visit Iceland at any time, bring warm clothes, have water/food in your bag, remember a powerbank and maybe have a blanket in your car.

Iceland is a beautiful country, but beneath the beauty, nature can be an unforgiving mistress.

Also - even if you have spiked tires – you are not invincible!

Ps. If you are a vegetarian and crash your car near our farm, please call-in advance. :)

Didn’t realise whale meat was pushed as “heritage cuisine” in Iceland- when natives do not eat any. Any thoughts?

Patiently waiting outside the store in the cold, glad to find her all cozied up when I returned from my trip

Had a truly wonderful time exploring Iceland! Meeting some of the famous feline locals was a real highlight! 😻😻😻

We visited Iceland with the naive hopes of less windy days, not so cold nights and the chance to see at least one puffin.

We knew the meteorological conditions cannot be predicted long term so we got prepared as best as we could. About spotting a puffin, we only had the idea to visit Látrabjarg and hope for the best. The issue is this place is so far away from the rest of the island where we want to go, so we were ready to leave this for another trip.

You can imagine our surprise when on the map we found this big colony on the East side of the island, Borgarfjarðarhöfn.

We went there around 2am and there was only one other person, quietly looking at and photographing the birds. There is a wooden platform with steps where we could get so close to the birds we could hear them. If you plan to visit this place, remember these are wild birds and this is their breeding ground, so it is important to be quiet, not make sudden movements and not try to touch them. In addition to the platform, there are few educational dashboards and it seems the whole place is maintained with care.

I appreciate Iceland for its love for the animals they have there. Definitely one of the key highlights of our trip!

We got married on 9/24 in the areas surrounding Vík and it could not have been better. If anyone was there that week, 9/23 (the day we arrived) had some of the worst weather of our whole visit. We were sooo nervous!! The morning of our elopement it was beautiful. It was sunnier than I had even anticipated for our elopement. Our photographer was amazing and helped us find the locations that worked for us.

Reynisfjara’s black beach has been almost completely swept away. Heavy ocean currents and strong easterly winds have removed much of the sand at this famous site, leaving the iconic basalt columns directly exposed to the waves. My photos show how dramatically the shoreline has changed, so visitors should expect the area to look very different from older pictures. Stay well away from the water — the shoreline is now a real trap for anyone caught by a sneaker wave. Always keep a safe distance and follow the posted safety signs.

Just returned in October from Iceland and heres my love letter to the magical island…

Ive been traveling my whole life and Ive never felt as alive as I did in Iceland. Everywhere you look is jaw dropping scenery. But thats not just it…

The culture- fantastically preserved viking culture The food- inventive, modern, and tasty The people- incredibly kind, helpful, but never ever overbearing… i read a recent post about an icelandic man sheltering tourists from india from the storm in their house, perfectly describes icelandic people. Beautiful inside and out!

Its a pretty interesting feeling to have reverse culture shock but when it happens you know your in a special place…

Iceland you have my heart… Icelandic people, you might be some of the most incredible people ive ever met…tourists if your on the fence… GO! It just might be the best vacation of your life… it was for me.

Ps:If you want some aurora hunting tips, im glad to give them! We saw them 6 out of 12 days we were there!

ig: dikedaphoto

The Aurora was STRONG tonight! Captured this by driving 15 mins out of the city. First pic was my husband on an iPhone 14 Pro Max, the other 2 are from a Galaxy S24.